Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy

Isabella (Portuguese: Isabel) was born on 21 February 1397, in Évora. She was daughter of King João I of Portugal and his wife, Philippa of Lancaster. Isabella was the fourth child and only daughter to survive to adulthood.

Philippa instilled in all her children, including Isabella, a sense of duty, faith and belief in education. Isabella was an avid reader and was interested in politics. Her father ensured that she was given a good understanding of politics, joining her brothers in their instructions in affairs of state. Isabella became proficient in Latin, French, English and Italian; she was fond of riding and hunting.

In 1415, Isabella received an offer of marriage from her cousin, King Henry V of England, an effort to form closer links with Portugal against France. The negotiations failed and Isabella remained unmarried. 1415 was also the year she grieved the death of her mother, with whom she had a close relationship.

At the age of 30, Isabella was still unmarried, when the Burgundian House of Valois provided her with an offer of marriage in 1428. The reigning Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, had already been widowed twice, by Michelle of Valois and Bonne of Artois; neither marriage left surviving issue. For his third wife, Philip was anxious to seek a candidate from England or a nation allied to England. Isabella was attractive to Philip as a potential consort being well-bred, shrewd and accomplished.

On 19 October 1428, Philip sent a delegation from Sluys, that arrived in Lisbon on 16 December. The delegation waited another month while Isabella’s father and brothers met at Aviz to discuss the matter. On 19 January, a formal request for the Infanta’s hand was made by the Burgundians, and discussions between the two parties began. The Portuguese agreed to the marriage and sent messengers on 2 February to receive the Duke of Burgundy’s formal response, which was signed on 5 May and received by the Portuguese on 4 June. The marriage was drawn up, and Isabella, still in Portugal, was married to Philip the Good on 24 July 1429.

Isabella did not leave Portugal for eight weeks. Her father had a fleet and trousseau prepared and on 19 October 1429, with a flotilla of about 20 ships, Isabella left Portugal forever. After an eleven-week journey when the fleet was beset by storms, causing the loss of several ships and much of her bridal trousseau, the convoy reached Sluys on 25 December 1429. The new Duchess of Burgundy disembarked the following day, and two weeks later, on 7 January 1430, Isabella and Philip celebrated their formal religious marriage.

With her husband, Isabella then travelled through the main territories of Burgundy: from Ghent to Kortrijik to Lille, and then to Brussels, Arras, Péronne-en-Mélantois, Mechelen and, by mid-March Noyon, where Isabella, now pregnant, chose to rest through the spring. She only left, returning to Ghent, when Joan of Arc led a campaign against the nearby Compiègne.

Isabella was at first unprepared for the lavish style of court life in Burgundy, one of the most extravagant in Europe. The Portuguese Infanta, described by the Burgundian embassy that had negotiated her marriage as appearing to their eyes as a nun when they had first met, and now dressed in loose clothing and flat over-panels to hide her pregnancy, looked particularly dowdy at her new court. More upsetting to Isabella, however, was her husband’s behaviour. He had showered her with gifts when she had first arrived, and still more when she had become pregnant; yet, he made it clear that he had no intention of keeping his vows of fidelity. He kept many lovers, most living away from court, and as many as 50 illegitimate children.

Isabella gave birth to her first child, Antoine, on 30 December 1430. Antoine was a sickly child, and was christened on 16 January 1431; soon after, both parents left to attend to ducal duties. By the autumn of that year, Isabella was once again pregnant with her second child, Joseph. Most importantly, Isabella had spent a long continuous period of time with her husband, and demonstrated her intelligence and abilities, as well as her commitment to Burgundy. Because of this, when Charles VII of France began attacking Burgundy in 1432, Philip ordered that Isabella represent him while he was away defending Dijon. Both her sons died in 1432, but the Duchess gave birth to another son, Charles, on 10 November 1433.

Isabella was a refined and intelligent woman who liked to be surrounded by artists and poets; she was a generous patron of the arts. In politics, she had a great influence on her son, but even more so on her husband, whom she represented on several diplomatic conferences and for whom she had governed when she was absent. Most notably, she negotiated many of the marriages of the members of her court, among them the marriage of her son, Charles, to Catherine of France. She also took special pains on behalf of Mary of Guelders, who attended upon Catherine: Isabella helped arrange her marriage to King James II of Scotland.

By 1457, however, the Duchess had withdrawn from the court and distanced herself from her husband, partly to side with her son in his estrangement with him, partly because she wanted to live a more devout and quiet life. Her personal feelings came into conflict with her husband’s decisions, resulting in her abandoning court and taking up refuge in the castle of La Motte au Boi, where she established a parallel court, which became a protectorate for the victims of her husband’s politics. At that time, she also assisted the Flemish harmed by Philip’s military actions. 

Isabella, Infanta of Portugal and Duchess of Burgundy died on 17 December 1471; she was 74 years old.

Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy

Petrus Christus

c. 1457 - 1460